Correct Answer: how far insurance prices should follow wildfire risk
Passage Reference: the province’s plan to let insurers price wildfire risk house by house
Why this is correct: The blogger’s premium is rising. The blog post then reports views on the province’s plan to let insurers price wildfire risk house by house.
Tips: For a “mainly about” question, look at the plan named at the end of the first paragraph. Every speaker gives a view on that same plan.
Why the other options are wrong:
- whether towns should ban building near forests: Nobody proposes a building ban. The blog post is about what insurance should cost for homes that already stand near forests.
- how fire crews are trained in the province: Fire crew training is never discussed. The fire chief talks about grants, stickers and firebreak plans.
- why teachers in the province need higher pay: Teaching is mentioned only to show the family budget. Teacher pay is not the subject.
Correct Answer: Lise Hackett
Passage Reference: warns that banks will quietly stop lending in the riskiest postal codes if nobody stands behind the insurers
Why this is correct: Lise Hackett, who oversees mortgage lending, warns that banks will stop lending in the riskiest postal codes. A buyer there could not get a mortgage.
Tips: Look at each speaker’s job first. Then ask whose job and warning are about buying a home, not about prices or fire safety.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Audra Pellerin: Audra Pellerin talks about honest prices and yearly hazard maps. She says nothing about banks refusing loans.
- Femi Ogden: Femi Ogden worries that retirees will be pushed out and the fire department will lose tax money, not about loans.
- Tiago Rhodes: Tiago Rhodes asks for grants, stickers and public firebreak plans. Lending is never part of his argument.
Correct Answer: owners who fixed their roofs once prices rose
Passage Reference: honest prices push people to protect their homes faster than any public campaign
Why this is correct: Pellerin argues that honest prices push people to protect their homes. Owners who fixed their roofs after prices rose would be proof of exactly that.
Tips: Find Pellerin’s main claim in her lines. Pick the evidence that would make that claim stronger.
Why the other options are wrong:
- retirees who sold their homes after prices jumped: Retirees forced out by high prices would support the mayor’s worry, not Pellerin’s case for honest prices.
- a bank that refused loans in a forest town: A bank refusing loans would support the lending warning, and it says nothing about prices getting owners to protect their homes.
- a fire hall that closed after taxes fell: A fire hall closing after taxes fell would back the mayor’s fear, which works against Pellerin’s plan.
Correct Answer: firebreak plans would be public before the steepest prices
Passage Reference: each town’s firebreak plans must be made public before the steepest price tiers take effect
Why this is correct: Rhodes says each town’s firebreak plans must be made public before the steepest price tiers take effect.
Tips: Read Rhodes’s last sentence to the end and put his condition in your own words. Then pick the choice that says the same thing.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the fire hall would move closer to the forest: Rhodes never asks to move a fire hall. His condition is about publishing firebreak plans.
- the mayor would approve each new quote: Nobody suggests that the mayor approve quotes. Rhodes wants firebreak plans made public before the top prices.
- every home would pay the same flat price: Rhodes accepts that safer homes should earn discounts, so a single flat price is not what he asks for.
Correct Answer: show how sharply the family’s costs could rise
Passage Reference: is going from $2,100 to $5,400 a year
Why this is correct: The letter shows the insurance going from $2,100 to $5,400 a year. The blogger says that jump is more than two months of grocery money.
Tips: Ask why the writer opens the post with this letter. Read what the letter says and how the writer reacts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- complain that insurers answer letters slowly: Slow replies are never mentioned. The letter matters because of the new price.
- prove that the house has never had a claim: The family’s claim history is never mentioned. The letter shows the price rise.
- explain why the family is moving into town: The family is not moving. The blogger plans a metal roof so they can stay among the pines.
Correct Answer: updating public hazard maps every year
Passage Reference: She also wants the province to update its public hazard maps every year
Why this is correct: Pellerin, the economist, wants the province to update its public hazard maps every year. That way owners can understand what pushed their price up.
Tips: The comment calls her “the economist”, so find her lines in the second paragraph. Look for the words “She also wants”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- raising prices on cedar roofs first: Pellerin says claims files point to cedar roofs, but she never asks for cedar roofs to be charged first.
- charging all homes one flat price: Pellerin argues for honest prices based on risk, so one flat price for every home is the opposite of her view.
- removing roof type from every quote: Pellerin points to cedar roofs in the claims files, so she would not remove roof type from quotes.
Correct Answer: the fire department could lose its tax money
Passage Reference: the property taxes that pay for the volunteer fire department shrink with them
Why this is correct: The mayor warns that when homes stop selling, the property taxes that pay for the volunteer fire department shrink.
Tips: The comment says the mayor’s warning, so find the word “warned” in his lines. Read that sentence to the end.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the town could lose its only grocery store: No grocery store is mentioned. The mayor’s warning is about the taxes that pay for the fire department.
- the forest could burn again next summer: The mayor never predicts another fire. His warning is about homes that stop selling and shrinking taxes.
- young families could stop moving to town: The mayor talks about retirees being pushed out, not about young families staying away.
Correct Answer: stickers that let safer homes earn discounts
Passage Reference: inspection stickers so a safer home earns its discount quickly
Why this is correct: The fire chief, Tiago Rhodes, wants inspection stickers so a safer home earns its discount quickly.
Tips: The comment calls him “the regional chief”, so find his lines. He wants several things, so check each choice against his list.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a new fire station in every town: Rhodes never asks for new fire stations. He wants grants, stickers and public firebreak plans.
- free insurance for volunteer firefighters: Free insurance for firefighters is never mentioned in the blog post.
- a ban on building near the forest: No building ban is proposed. Rhodes wants help for owners of homes that are already there.
Correct Answer: put a metal roof on the house
Passage Reference: put a metal roof on before our next renewal
Why this is correct: Look at the last paragraph. The writer plans to apply for a hardening grant and put a metal roof on before the next renewal.
Tips: The comment says “your plan”, so look for the writer’s own plans near the end of the post. Read the sentence that starts “I will apply”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- sell the house and move into town: The blogger wants to keep living among the pines, not sell and move.
- switch to a cheaper insurer next year: Changing insurers is never planned. The plan is a grant and a new roof.
- cut down every tree on the lot: Cutting down every tree is never mentioned. The blogger’s plan is about the roof.
Correct Answer: he could accept modest surcharges
Passage Reference: He says he could live with modest surcharges
Why this is correct: Ogden, the mayor, says he could live with modest surcharges. What he fears is a sudden cliff in prices.
Tips: Go back to the mayor’s lines and read them to the end. Match his point in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the fire chief should run the reinsurance pool: The mayor never says who should run the pool. The pool comes from the lending warning, not from him.
- prices should never change after a fire: The mayor accepts modest surcharges, so he does not say prices should never change.
- retirees should move to larger towns: The mayor wants to keep retirees in town. He fears prices will push them out.
